Reference System TT - Dr. Feickert Analogue or Sota

Origin Live Voyager turntable, Renown arm, Soundsmith Strain Gauge 1.   

Get one of the power supply upgrades for the SG1.  

With the SG1 you can sell your current phono stage making this easily the way to go both in terms of performance and value. You can go with the Sovereign/Enterprise (what I have) to save money and still be among the very best. But talking with Mark Baker about it he said that while the Voyager costs a lot the leap in performance is so great he feels it is an even bigger value. Which made me salivate, and even more so now that I have lived with the Sovereign a while, this is a fabulous rig! But they are beyond me. If you want reference though, this is it: Voyager, Renown, SG1.

My apologies, I failed to indicate my budget for TT, tonearm and cart is $20,000 - $25,000 max. millercarbon's sugestion for the Voyager TT appears to be an excellant suggestion if I had an unlimited budget. That's not the case. 
Thanks for the input. 

In that case then Origin Live Sovereign turntable, Enterprise arm, and Soundsmith SG1. I have the Sovereign/Enterprise. Mine with Koetsu Black Goldline and Herron VTPH2A. If you had been here for Chuxpona, seen the way a room full of audiophiles were leaning forward intently listening for like two solid hours, of way way WAY more music than talking, you would know why.    

With your budget you could easily have this rig. With the SG1 you eliminate the need for a phono stage, getting in effect a SOTA phono stage thrown in with the cart. Which you also order an extra user-replaceable stylus or two, another big advantage with SG.   

Do a search, you will find the SG1 compared with top flight carts costing much more. All those carts in order to compete with SG1 require a $10k and up phono stage, and not exactly cheap interconnect and power cord. Reference quality, value price.   

I would highly recommend searching around and reading all you can find about these, both Origin Live and the Strain Gauge. Then I would call and talk with Mark Baker. This is what I did before ordering my Sovereign. Always do this as my final step, talk to the owner/designer. Mark almost had me switching my order to a Resolution with Agile arm. Because he was saying the Resolution comes very close to Sovereign for a lot less.  

“In fact, this arm-table combination is one of the finest performers I’ve heard at any price… But regardless of price, this is one of the truly special products I’ve reviewed in the past eighteen years.” Michael Fremer, Editor 

Strong words. Listening to my Sovereign last night I can understand where they come from.

Brinkman Bardo, Triplaner, Lyra Kleos on an HRS base. I have that and a SOTA. 

No need to brag, reviews like at Munich and the solid dealer and user base speak volumes. I think SOTA is 5-6 months out….but come to think of it, last visitor to hear the SOTA bought one a few days later….

I have heard the Dr. F at some length, also an excellent choice.

enjoy your journey, you are in rarified air w gear you are cinsidering…

Cart: Kiseki Purle Heart NS SB, Koetsu Rosewood, less expensive choices - Soundsmith Zephyr MIMC Star ES, Sumiko Starling, dependent on TT/tonearm choice. I currently have and have had for a number of years, a VPI Scout & Benz Micro L2 cart & an ASUSA Tube Phono-Pre (it is kit).

If you are considering Thomas Schick tonearm do yourself a favor and look for a low compliance Miyajima cartridges like Kansui or Madake. Here is a US distributor. You will find some amazing reviews. I got two and this MC cartridge is something special for a high mass tonearm. If you have funds for a NOS Fidelity-Research FR-66fx (about $5k) it will be much better than Schick. You can also look for IKEDA IT-407 tonearms if you want new ones.